I am remiss.

In that I repeatedly meant to write something for the Fourth of July only to find myself arriving at the holiday and scrambling to get a post together.

However, the thing that has been in my mind over the last few days is something I happened upon which is worth reading. I truly believe over the course of my lifetime the country has improved a great deal in matters of race and I find myself in a strange place because I contradict in some ways what the popular views are - if anything I find some of the things more divisive and steps backward in that they do not unite us.

People are people and I find in myself that I approach people in the way they approach me. In other words I give back what I get and if someone is courteous or nice to me I cannot bring myself to be my normal default of being an asshole in return.

Consequently, I have been fortunate in that the people who have entered my orbit through the years are of a variety of backgrounds and I have benfited greatly from knowing them.

I did happen upon this recently and I felt compelled to share it. If only in that it provides context and subtext to much of the discussion, the old saw comes to mind about walking in another person’s shoes.

Within that context I share the following - What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass July 5, 1852

https://masshumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/speech_complete.pdf

By the way after some short research I find that (walking in someone else’s shoes) comes from a poet from the late 19th century: 

“Judge Softly”

“Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,
Or stumbled beneath the same load.

There may be tears in his soles that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
The burden he bears placed on your back
May cause you to stumble and fall, too.

Don’t sneer at the man who is down today
Unless you have felt the same blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.

You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his, unknown to you in the same way,
May cause you to stagger and fall, too.

Don’t be too harsh with the man that sins.
Or pelt him with words, or stone, or disdain.
Unless you are sure you have no sins of your own,
And it’s only wisdom and love that your heart contains.

For you know if the tempter’s voice
Should whisper as soft to you,
As it did to him when he went astray,
It might cause you to falter, too.

Just walk a mile in his moccasins
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse.
If just for one hour, you could find a way
To see through his eyes, instead of your own muse.

I believe you’d be surprised to see
That you’ve been blind and narrow-minded, even unkind.
There are people on reservations and in the ghettos
Who have so little hope, and too much worry on their minds.

Brother, there but for the grace of God go you and I.
Just for a moment, slip into his mind and traditions
And see the world through his spirit and eyes
Before you cast a stone or falsely judge his conditions.

Remember to walk a mile in his moccasins
And remember the lessons of humanity taught to you by your elders.
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave
In other people’s lives, our kindnesses and generosity.

Take the time to walk a mile in his moccasins.”

~ by Mary T. Lathrap, 1895